Houma duo arrested for murder

Authorities nabbed a murder suspect in Raceland Monday in connection with a Houma killing the night before.

Chris Anthony Frank, 28, of 725 E. Lafayette St., Houma, surrendered Monday around 8:45 a.m. to Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s deputies at a home in Raceland.

Frank was wanted for his alleged involvement in the July 19 shooting Steven Sneeze in the 800 block of Canal Street.

Lafourche deputies turned Frank over to Houma Police detectives.

Authorities said Frank has a criminal record spanning over nine years, which includes arrests for aggravated assault, indecent behavior with a juvenile, kidnapping and aggravated rape.

Interim Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis said Frank is being charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder of Sneeze, 22, of 715 Lafayette St. in Houma.

On July 19 around 10:40 p.m., Houma Police responded to a shots-fired call in the 800 block of Canal Street. When officers arrived, Sneeze was lying in the yard of a residence, and was shot three times: once in the leg, hip and head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Duplantis said.

As part of the investigation, Houma Police executed a search warrant at a nearby residence hoping to find the murder weapon. It was not found, Duplantis reported. However, .45-caliber shell casings were found. Detectives believe that they came from the murder weapon, which still has not been recovered, police said.

Based on leads, detectives arrested John Calvin Frank, aka Bones, of 810 Canal St., Houma, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Keidrike Ayo, 20, of 6680 Willie Lou St., is being sought for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Houma detectives speculated that the Sunday night shooting is related to a July 3 shooting at the same location where Robert Mitchell Jr., 31, of Houma, was shot in the right shoulder with an assault rifle. Detectives believe that the shooting stemmed from an ongoing feud between two families on that block.

More than a dozen shell casings from the weapon were recovered at the scene, authorities said.

Acadian Ambulance transported Mitchell to Terrebonne General Medical Center where he was treated and released.

Detectives have a suspect in the July 3 shooting, Mark Anthony Griffin, 33, of 3005 Kingston St., Kenner, La. Police say Griffin is still at-large.

Warrants have been filed against Griffin for attempted first-degree murder and aggravated criminal damage to property. At this time, it is unknown if Griffin has any connection with the Sneeze murder, Duplantis said.

The two investigations are still ongoing as witness information and evidence are still being gathered.

If anyone has any information about either shooting, call Houma Police at (985) 873-6371.